Tiger Woods has every reason to watch his son Charlie play Oakland Hills

Get ready, Michigan golf fans. Charlie Woods is about to say “Hello, world” right here in the Great Lakes' Golf Mad State when he competes in his first national championship tournament next month.

That means it’s highly likely — if not an all-out certainty — that Tiger Woods will return to Michigan for the first time since the final Buick Open in 2009 to watch his son compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur championship July 22-27 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township.

Charlie Woods, 15, has played in several high-profile events, often with his dad and sometimes with his pop serving as his caddie. But the U.S. Junior Am is his first tournament of consequence and one that Tiger, 48, happens to have won three times.

You have to imagine Tiger is beaming with pride over his kid earning his way into his first USGA national championship by winning his qualifier Wednesday by one shot. He shot 1-under-par 71 at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Florida.

Of course there’s a slim chance Tiger won’t follow his kid around Oakland Hills, where Charlie is guaranteed to play the first two days before the field of 264 gets cut to 64 for match play. Tiger is scheduled to play the British Open that runs July 18-21 at Royal Troon in Scotland.

There are a couple of things to consider: First, Tiger hasn’t made the cut at the British since 2018, so if he misses the cut again he could easily get to Michigan on Saturday to follow Charlie for a practice round. And even if he makes the cut, with a private plane and a five-hour time difference he could easily get to Michigan by Monday morning.

Second, there’s the big picture. Tiger committed to playing in the British last week during the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where Charlie watched his dad miss the cut by two strokes. Can you imagine being Tiger and passing up a chance to watch your kid play in his first “major” while you’re hobbling around on a broken body and shooting a couple of 76s in Scotland?

Can you imagine being in Scotland and knowing your kid is getting on a plane and traveling to

Michigan on his own for the biggest tournament of his life while you’re ordering haggis and black pudding for dinner yet again?

Lest you think the Junior Am is just another "big golf tournament" in the Woods family, remember two things. "Big golf tournaments" are Tiger’s raison d'etre. And he strongly values what the USGA represents and what its championships have meant in his career.

After Tiger won the first of his three Junior Am titles, at age 15, he won three U.S. Amateurs and then three U.S. Opens. The throughline of Tiger’s championship career can be traced from USGA events. They validated his brilliance as a young prodigy and confirmed his mastery as an adult.

And let’s face it, especially because the Junior Am is at Oakland Hills, Charlie could use his dad a lot more than the British Open can. As a three-time champ, Tiger knows everything about playing the tournament. But he knows Oakland Hills, too, having played there in the 1996 U.S. Open and the 2004 Ryder Cup.

The mitigating factors are that the Junior Am will be held on both the North and South courses. Tiger hasn’t played the North in competition, and he hasn’t played the South since it was drastically changed in 2021 into what resembles a linksstyle course with massive bunkers, few trees and shaved-down green fringes.

Of course, Tiger might choose to keep a low profile and avoid the tournament altogether in order to avoid any unnecessary distractions for Charlie or other players. His attendance is sure to draw massive throngs of spectators to the free event to watch him watching his kid.

My solution to this is pretty easy: Tiger should caddie for Charlie to keep the focus for fans and security in one place. The USGA also should build in a one-hole buffer behind Charlie’s group to avoid the distraction of a shifting and migrating gallery.

My heart leaps with joy at the thought of Tiger wearing a caddie’s bib and cleaning clubs for his kid. Hey, Maverick McNealy’s billionaire dad, Scott, caddied for him at the 2016 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills, so why not Tiger?

I can’t imagine Tiger not showing up. But even if he doesn’t, it’s going to be thrilling to watch another Woods play Oakland Hills as the venerable club kicks off a slew of national championships over the next quarter-century.